The relationship between Zipf's law and the distribution of first digits

Shragga Irmay

Journal of Applied Statistics, 1997, vol. 24, issue 4, 383-394

Abstract: Zipf 's experimental law states that, for a given large piece of text, the product of the relative frequency of a word and its order in descending frequency order is a constant, shown to be equal to 1 divided by the natural logarithm of the number of different words. It is shown to be approximately equal to Benford's logarithmic distribution of first significant digits in tables of numbers. Eleven samples allow comparison of observed and theoretical frequencies.

Date: 1997
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DOI: 10.1080/02664769723594

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